Mild spoilers
Amazing book with complex themes and wondrous writing. It draws from real world events, history, religion, and mythology.
Act I is safe for the most part. Act II is when you really need to check your triggers. It gets dark. It discusses the atrocities and realities of war without any censors with tremendous detail.
Chapter 21 needs to be read with great care. It, again, draws from real world events. It is important for the characters, but hard to read. Again, check your triggers.
The Poppy War: A Novel
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars | 26,246 ratings
Price: 13.99
Last update: 04-08-2025
About this item
One of Time Magazine’s 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time
“I have no doubt this will end up being the best fantasy debut of the year...I have absolutely no doubt that [Kuang’s] name will be up there with the likes of Robin Hobb and N.K. Jemisin.” -- Booknest
From #1 New York Times bestselling author of Babel and Yellowface, the brilliantly imaginative debut of R.F. Kuang: an epic historical military fantasy, inspired by the bloody history of China’s twentieth century and filled with treachery and magic, in the tradition of Ken Liu’s Grace of Kings and N.K. Jemisin’s Inheritance Trilogy.
When Rin aced the Keju—the Empire-wide test to find the most talented youth to learn at the Academies—it was a shock to everyone: to the test officials, who couldn’t believe a war orphan from Rooster Province could pass without cheating; to Rin’s guardians, who believed they’d finally be able to marry her off and further their criminal enterprise; and to Rin herself, who realized she was finally free of the servitude and despair that had made up her daily existence. That she got into Sinegard—the most elite military school in Nikan—was even more surprising.
But surprises aren’t always good.
Because being a dark-skinned peasant girl from the south is not an easy thing at Sinegard. Targeted from the outset by rival classmates for her color, poverty, and gender, Rin discovers she possesses a lethal, unearthly power—an aptitude for the nearly-mythical art of shamanism. Exploring the depths of her gift with the help of a seemingly insane teacher and psychoactive substances, Rin learns that gods long thought dead are very much alive—and that mastering control over those powers could mean more than just surviving school.
For while the Nikara Empire is at peace, the Federation of Mugen still lurks across a narrow sea. The militarily advanced Federation occupied Nikan for decades after the First Poppy War, and only barely lost the continent in the Second. And while most of the people are complacent to go about their lives, a few are aware that a Third Poppy War is just a spark away . . .
Rin’s shamanic powers may be the only way to save her people. But as she finds out more about the god that has chosen her, the vengeful Phoenix, she fears that winning the war may cost her humanity . . . and that it may already be too late.
From the Publisher
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The Poppy War
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The Dragon Republic
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The Burning God
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Babel
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Yellowface
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The Complete Poppy War Trilogy Boxed Set
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| Customer Reviews |
4.3 out of 5 stars
23,166
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4.5 out of 5 stars
9,685
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4.4 out of 5 stars
8,282
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4.3 out of 5 stars
19,604
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3.9 out of 5 stars
52,041
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4.5 out of 5 stars
248
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| Price | $15.85$15.85 | $15.99$15.99 | $15.61$15.61 | $13.26$13.26 | $15.19$15.19 | $45.28$45.28 |
| A powerful historical military fantasy, inspired by the bloody history of China’s twentieth century and filled with treachery and magic. | Rin’s story continues in this acclaimed sequel to The Poppy War—an epic fantasy combining the history of twentieth-century China with a gripping world of gods and monsters. | The exciting end to the Poppy War trilogy, R. F. Kuang’s acclaimed, award-winning epic fantasy that combines the history of twentieth-century China with a gripping world of gods and monsters, to devastating, enthralling effect. | The instant #1 New York Times Bestseller from the author of The Poppy War that grapples with student revolutions, colonial resistance, and the use of language and translation as the dominating tool of the British empire. | A chilling and hilariously cutting novel about identity, white lies, and ambition from R.F. Kuang, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Babel. | From R. F. Kuang, the #1 New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of Babel and Yellowface, this collection features all three novels in her historical military fantasy trilogy! |
Top reviews from the United States
Rebecca A.5.0 out of 5 stars glorious but triggers galore
John Kang4.0 out of 5 stars Good, But Didn't Live Up To My Expectations
In my review of Naomi Novik’s His Majesty’s Dragon, I proclaimed to be an avid student of Napoleonic History. If there’s one era that fascinates me even more, it is China’s transition from imperial rule, through the Republican Era, and the establishment of the People’s Republic. When I heard R. F. Kuang’s The Poppy War was an epic military fantasy based on the Second Sino-Japanese War (known by the Chinese as The Oppose Japan War, by Imperial Japan as The China Incident, and the ignored by the rest of the world as a prelude to World War II), and it was receiving rave reviews, I knew I had to get my hands on it.
The Poppy War gives us a lot to love:
The main character, Rin, is an orphan you cannot help but to root for. Raised by opium dealers in the southern countryside, her lot in life is marriage to an old but influential merchant. However, she has not only been secretly learning to read and write, but also studying for the prestigious civil service exams. It lands her into a top military academy, where she faces a brand new set of challenges when pitted against classmates who’ve grown up training in martial arts and studying classical literature. Her failures and growth as a shaman and as a character, as she learns her true identity, make for a compelling story.
Her personal and professional connections feel textured and complex. Among my favorites included her rivalry with a snobby, martially talented classmate, Nezha; her friendship with a brilliant classmate Kitay; her combative student-mentor bond with the perpetually high Master Jiang; and idolization of senior and later commander Altan. What I found beautiful about these relationships is how they evolve as circumstances change and Rin grows both as a person and in power.
Inasmuch as James Maxwell’s Shifting Tides series seems based on a Hellenistic world and the Peloponnesian Wars, The Poppy War is not quite China and Japan; yet has real-life Chinese locations and names such as the Wudang Mountain; philosophers Zhuangzi and Mengzi; and famed tactician, Sunzi (the modern Romanization of Sun Tzu). The author has clearly researched the Gua (Trigrams) of the Book of Changes (I Ching/Yijing) as she infuses the story with lore and a rich history. The illicit drug-related magic system harkens back to real life shamanic traditions, and the infighting among warlords mirrors late Imperial and Republican China’s historic weaknesses. As such, the setting feels real and lived in.
Solid and engaging, the plot moves along at a decent pace. It includes elements immediately recognizable as Japan’s “comfort women” system and ruthless research Unit 731. The story is not for the weak-stomached, due to brutal depictions of torture and murder, and recounting of systemic rape. Yet, the graphic violence doesn’t feel gratuitous. Not only does it move the story forward and contributes to Rin’s character development, but also paints a picture of real war, unsanitized or ignored by basic history books. These scenes might be the closest thing to a visit to the Rape of Nanjing Memorial in China many readers will ever get. (On a side note, the author listed the late Iris Chang as one of her literary inspirations. Ms. Chang wrote the highly acclaimed book, The Rape of Nanking. It is well worth the read.)
All that said, I really really wanted to love The Poppy War; and I think had I approached it with zero expectations, I would have. My major complaint with the book is the military setting. I had seen references to the Second Sino-Japanese War, which to me implied tanks, steel warships, fighters, and bombers; the title The Poppy War reminded me of the mid-19th Century Opium Wars, where Britain’s steam-powered gunboats demolished Imperial China’s wooden junks and proceeded to bombard coastal defenses with cannons that China’s primitive artillery could not match. As such, I was looking for cues as to the technological level.
Although Rin trains in martial arts at the military academy, it did not immediately imply a technological level for me (after all, even modern armies practice unarmed combat; and even though she is depicted with a bow on the cover, even Rambo used one in First Blood). Forty-percent of the way through the book, when hostilities between Rin’s homeland of Nikara break out with the island nation of Mugen, I was frustrated at still not knowing.
Was the “lightly built,” “elegant” ship an Age of Sail ship of the line, or a steam-powered gunboat? Was the “armored column” a line of panzers, or men in mail? Are the soldiers’ “armor” Chinese fish scale lamellar, Japanese yoroi, steel cuirasses, or flak jackets? When all males were rounded up and “shot,” was it with pistols, or crossbows? Were “munitions” musket balls, jacketed bullets, grenades, or mortar rounds? Though Nikara’s soldiers shoot volleys of arrows at Mugen’s troops, is this because they are technologically inferior, or because that’s what both sides use? I felt much of this could have been conveyed more explicitly if not earlier, during Rin’s tenure at the military academy, then as she hears reports about the progress of the war—as is, we know Nikara is losing, but not whether it is due to just organizational inferiority, or also a wide technological gap. It isn’t until Rin faces several warriors hand-to-hand, and then a mounted Mugen general wielding a halberd, that I felt certain that both sides fought at the pre-firearm level.
Despite these complaints, the rest of the story shines. Kuang’s writing style is unembellished, unpretentious, and easy to follow. At times, the dialog feels modern-colloquial, which gives it a young adult feel. With all these factors considered, I rate The Poppy War 8 stars out of 10.
The Poppy War gives us a lot to love:
The main character, Rin, is an orphan you cannot help but to root for. Raised by opium dealers in the southern countryside, her lot in life is marriage to an old but influential merchant. However, she has not only been secretly learning to read and write, but also studying for the prestigious civil service exams. It lands her into a top military academy, where she faces a brand new set of challenges when pitted against classmates who’ve grown up training in martial arts and studying classical literature. Her failures and growth as a shaman and as a character, as she learns her true identity, make for a compelling story.
Her personal and professional connections feel textured and complex. Among my favorites included her rivalry with a snobby, martially talented classmate, Nezha; her friendship with a brilliant classmate Kitay; her combative student-mentor bond with the perpetually high Master Jiang; and idolization of senior and later commander Altan. What I found beautiful about these relationships is how they evolve as circumstances change and Rin grows both as a person and in power.
Inasmuch as James Maxwell’s Shifting Tides series seems based on a Hellenistic world and the Peloponnesian Wars, The Poppy War is not quite China and Japan; yet has real-life Chinese locations and names such as the Wudang Mountain; philosophers Zhuangzi and Mengzi; and famed tactician, Sunzi (the modern Romanization of Sun Tzu). The author has clearly researched the Gua (Trigrams) of the Book of Changes (I Ching/Yijing) as she infuses the story with lore and a rich history. The illicit drug-related magic system harkens back to real life shamanic traditions, and the infighting among warlords mirrors late Imperial and Republican China’s historic weaknesses. As such, the setting feels real and lived in.
Solid and engaging, the plot moves along at a decent pace. It includes elements immediately recognizable as Japan’s “comfort women” system and ruthless research Unit 731. The story is not for the weak-stomached, due to brutal depictions of torture and murder, and recounting of systemic rape. Yet, the graphic violence doesn’t feel gratuitous. Not only does it move the story forward and contributes to Rin’s character development, but also paints a picture of real war, unsanitized or ignored by basic history books. These scenes might be the closest thing to a visit to the Rape of Nanjing Memorial in China many readers will ever get. (On a side note, the author listed the late Iris Chang as one of her literary inspirations. Ms. Chang wrote the highly acclaimed book, The Rape of Nanking. It is well worth the read.)
All that said, I really really wanted to love The Poppy War; and I think had I approached it with zero expectations, I would have. My major complaint with the book is the military setting. I had seen references to the Second Sino-Japanese War, which to me implied tanks, steel warships, fighters, and bombers; the title The Poppy War reminded me of the mid-19th Century Opium Wars, where Britain’s steam-powered gunboats demolished Imperial China’s wooden junks and proceeded to bombard coastal defenses with cannons that China’s primitive artillery could not match. As such, I was looking for cues as to the technological level.
Although Rin trains in martial arts at the military academy, it did not immediately imply a technological level for me (after all, even modern armies practice unarmed combat; and even though she is depicted with a bow on the cover, even Rambo used one in First Blood). Forty-percent of the way through the book, when hostilities between Rin’s homeland of Nikara break out with the island nation of Mugen, I was frustrated at still not knowing.
Was the “lightly built,” “elegant” ship an Age of Sail ship of the line, or a steam-powered gunboat? Was the “armored column” a line of panzers, or men in mail? Are the soldiers’ “armor” Chinese fish scale lamellar, Japanese yoroi, steel cuirasses, or flak jackets? When all males were rounded up and “shot,” was it with pistols, or crossbows? Were “munitions” musket balls, jacketed bullets, grenades, or mortar rounds? Though Nikara’s soldiers shoot volleys of arrows at Mugen’s troops, is this because they are technologically inferior, or because that’s what both sides use? I felt much of this could have been conveyed more explicitly if not earlier, during Rin’s tenure at the military academy, then as she hears reports about the progress of the war—as is, we know Nikara is losing, but not whether it is due to just organizational inferiority, or also a wide technological gap. It isn’t until Rin faces several warriors hand-to-hand, and then a mounted Mugen general wielding a halberd, that I felt certain that both sides fought at the pre-firearm level.
Despite these complaints, the rest of the story shines. Kuang’s writing style is unembellished, unpretentious, and easy to follow. At times, the dialog feels modern-colloquial, which gives it a young adult feel. With all these factors considered, I rate The Poppy War 8 stars out of 10.
Jordan5.0 out of 5 stars A stunning beginning to a new fantasy trilogy
This was absolutely insane and incredible and I can't stop thinking about it. Basically, I've been looking forward to this book for quite a while, and then when it finally came out I started seeing rave reviews for it everywhere about how wonderful and brutal this book was, so my excitement skyrocketed up and I ended up picking it up way sooner than I expected to.
If you've seen anything about this book, then you have probably already seen people calling it extremely dark and intense, and well, they're not wrong. It's also incredibly riveting and an exceptionally exhilarating experience. The Poppy War spends the first portion of the book in the sort of school setting that we all tend to love in fantasy books. There are, of course, rivalries among other students and the protagonist, Rin, since she isn't overly welcome and doesn't fit in, which leads to very few real friends. However, this school setting is still very fresh and exciting and it works really well with the atmosphere of the book. There's a lot of variety within the school itself and what is taught and it's not your average 'fun school setting,' but rather is a harsh environment where you're sort of left to fend for yourself for the most part. I really liked that the rivalries among the students didn't take up too much time and energy and that the school period wasn't just filled with savagery and revenge like in a lot of books. Instead of focusing on this, everyone was too busy actually studying and trying to focus on their own work and grades, which was oddly nice to see As mentioned, this school setting only lasts for the first half or so of the book, so if you don't like school settings then don't worry because it's not the whole thing, but if you do like school settings then I promise you'll enjoy it.
The Poppy War takes inspiration from China's brutal 20th century history and draws many similarities between various events and themes/ideas between the two. I liked knowing about this inspiration before reading the book because it added some extra curiosity to my reading and actually inspired me to get back into learning more about China's history. The world itself that Kuang crafted in The Poppy War is incredibly realistic and it truly felt like it was a place that actually existed. There were strong mythical and cultural elements that built up this world extremely well and added so much to it. I love when there are such strong elements like these in books that allow the culture to bleed into the story through a variety of ways that, again, make this world feel so real and interesting.
As with many fantasy books, there is a pretty decent sized cast of characters. Every character had really strong characterization and development overall and I really didn't think that there were any characters that were purely one-note; each one had many different sides that were interesting to explore. Rin, our protagonist, is truly an interesting person that constantly had me wondering what she was going to do next. She's a bit reckless, but this didn't annoy me as much as in other books because I sort of understood where her recklessness came from based upon where she grew up and what the current stakes in her life were. I loved watching her grow throughout this book and I think Kuang did an excellent job at creating such a fascinating character that, although we might not always agree with what she's doing, still has an engrossing journey that I am fully invested in.
Among other characters are Altan, a top student at Sinegard and the last known member of the Speerly race still alive; Kitay, one of Rin's only friends; Jiang, a professor at Sinegard who is not widely respected and is a bit of a wild card, and Nezha, Rin's immediate enemy. Kitay and Jiang were easily some of my favorite characters. I felt that they both had such interesting personalities that were explored in very different ways. Kitay comes across as a rather normal type of student, but there's much more to him than expected. Jiang is a very complicated person, but he's also an especially intriguing person and is one of those that you can't help but be drawn to due to his great mystique and many unpredictable and strange actions. There are honestly a lot more characters that I could touch on, but I fear discussing them could give away minor spoilers about future plot points in this book, so I am going to refrain from doing so in this review.
Although there are some dark elements in the beginning of the book, it isn't until the second half of the book that things really take a turn for the truly dark and difficult. There are some images described that are so hard to imagine--and honestly, I didn't want to imagine them most of the time-- and really make you wonder at the depravity of humans and how low they can get. At times, the last part of the book actually felt like a completely different story from the first half, almost as if I was reading multiple books in a series instead of just one, and I actually loved that. There is so much going on that you hardly ever even have a chance to feel bored or think that the book is dragging; something new or intriguing was almost always going on.
Overall, I loved The Poppy War. This book is beyond thrilling, fully compelling, and one that I once again cannot recommend enough. I've given The Poppy War five stars.
If you've seen anything about this book, then you have probably already seen people calling it extremely dark and intense, and well, they're not wrong. It's also incredibly riveting and an exceptionally exhilarating experience. The Poppy War spends the first portion of the book in the sort of school setting that we all tend to love in fantasy books. There are, of course, rivalries among other students and the protagonist, Rin, since she isn't overly welcome and doesn't fit in, which leads to very few real friends. However, this school setting is still very fresh and exciting and it works really well with the atmosphere of the book. There's a lot of variety within the school itself and what is taught and it's not your average 'fun school setting,' but rather is a harsh environment where you're sort of left to fend for yourself for the most part. I really liked that the rivalries among the students didn't take up too much time and energy and that the school period wasn't just filled with savagery and revenge like in a lot of books. Instead of focusing on this, everyone was too busy actually studying and trying to focus on their own work and grades, which was oddly nice to see As mentioned, this school setting only lasts for the first half or so of the book, so if you don't like school settings then don't worry because it's not the whole thing, but if you do like school settings then I promise you'll enjoy it.
The Poppy War takes inspiration from China's brutal 20th century history and draws many similarities between various events and themes/ideas between the two. I liked knowing about this inspiration before reading the book because it added some extra curiosity to my reading and actually inspired me to get back into learning more about China's history. The world itself that Kuang crafted in The Poppy War is incredibly realistic and it truly felt like it was a place that actually existed. There were strong mythical and cultural elements that built up this world extremely well and added so much to it. I love when there are such strong elements like these in books that allow the culture to bleed into the story through a variety of ways that, again, make this world feel so real and interesting.
As with many fantasy books, there is a pretty decent sized cast of characters. Every character had really strong characterization and development overall and I really didn't think that there were any characters that were purely one-note; each one had many different sides that were interesting to explore. Rin, our protagonist, is truly an interesting person that constantly had me wondering what she was going to do next. She's a bit reckless, but this didn't annoy me as much as in other books because I sort of understood where her recklessness came from based upon where she grew up and what the current stakes in her life were. I loved watching her grow throughout this book and I think Kuang did an excellent job at creating such a fascinating character that, although we might not always agree with what she's doing, still has an engrossing journey that I am fully invested in.
Among other characters are Altan, a top student at Sinegard and the last known member of the Speerly race still alive; Kitay, one of Rin's only friends; Jiang, a professor at Sinegard who is not widely respected and is a bit of a wild card, and Nezha, Rin's immediate enemy. Kitay and Jiang were easily some of my favorite characters. I felt that they both had such interesting personalities that were explored in very different ways. Kitay comes across as a rather normal type of student, but there's much more to him than expected. Jiang is a very complicated person, but he's also an especially intriguing person and is one of those that you can't help but be drawn to due to his great mystique and many unpredictable and strange actions. There are honestly a lot more characters that I could touch on, but I fear discussing them could give away minor spoilers about future plot points in this book, so I am going to refrain from doing so in this review.
Although there are some dark elements in the beginning of the book, it isn't until the second half of the book that things really take a turn for the truly dark and difficult. There are some images described that are so hard to imagine--and honestly, I didn't want to imagine them most of the time-- and really make you wonder at the depravity of humans and how low they can get. At times, the last part of the book actually felt like a completely different story from the first half, almost as if I was reading multiple books in a series instead of just one, and I actually loved that. There is so much going on that you hardly ever even have a chance to feel bored or think that the book is dragging; something new or intriguing was almost always going on.
Overall, I loved The Poppy War. This book is beyond thrilling, fully compelling, and one that I once again cannot recommend enough. I've given The Poppy War five stars.